Yesterday I decided to change the oil on my 2015 EX. Everything went well, except my dipstick reading is very confusing. I have read that the dipstick on 3rd gen fits is not very accurate before, but this is on a whole new level. The total amount of oil that I put into the car including the oil filter is about 3 quarts, however, the dipstick showed that the oil is over capacity after running it for about 5 minutes. The car was cold during the change, so I'm not sure if that is a contributer to the inaccuracy of the dipstick. Am I safe to fill it with the reminding half quart of oil, even if the dipstick is showing that it is full? I have attached a picture of the dipstick, as well as the amount of oil that I poured into the car for context.

Any advice would be much appreciated, thanks!

 

it's tricky , i've noticed that when i take a reading , one side of the stick shows a higher level , i you check the low side you'll see a dry spot, i'm assuming this is the correct reading . i've put just about 3 1/2 quarts in , and the dry spot shows up just over the high mark on the stick . for some reason the other side always shows oil above high mark . i'd say just look for dry spot . it's not a good tip-stick arrangement

 

I don't like the idea of overfilling, it leads to foaming and reduces the ability of the oil to do its job. I would be hesitant to stick in more oil. Maybe keep a close eye on it and take a few more oil readings, both cold and fully warmed up, to see if it settles out.

 

Would it really be overfilling though, considering the official capacity is 3.5 quarts and I only filled it with 3?

 

 

Just to be sure, the car was level when you drained the oil? And you wiped off the dipstick and reinserted it and then took it out and looked at it?

 

Couple points:

1. If the car was cold then the oil will drain slowly and if you don't allow a longer time for the drain then more than usual will be left inside. If the oil is cold I usually pop the drain plug and then wander off to contemplate yard work for a half hour or more before putting the plug back in.

2. Ideally you don't want the car level when you drain the oil. Since the drain plug is towards the rear of the pan you really only want the car's front end lifted up which will drive the oil in the pan back towards the plug. If the car is level then some oil will simply sit in the pan with no incentive to go anywhere.

At this point I would not add any oil. Let the car sit overnight and check it again tomorrow as has been suggested. Make sure that you have run the engine a bit today so that the new filter will be full of oil. That also affects the dipstick level.